A Life of Looking at Little Things

By ROBERT A. HAMILTON

Published: September 9, 2001

WHEN the beekeeper Ernest Jennings was killed by bees last month, one of the first experts called to look into the death was Louis A. Magnarelli, the State Entomologist. Mr. Magnarelli, in essence the state's bug expert, has held the position since 1987 and is the fifth person to hold the job since the position was created 100 years ago.

He came to the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven as a new graduate of Cornell University graduate entomology program in 1976. He originally intended to study mosquitoes, particularly the strain that carried dog heartworm, but since being appointed State Entomologist in 1987 he has been at the forefront of a number of insect problems in the state, from gypsy moths and wooly adelgids in the forests, to Army worms on suburban laws, and deer ticks at backyard bird feeders.

During the state fiscal year that ended June 30, his office responded to 6,595 requests for help, with most of them, about 80 percent, having to do with infestations in trees, lawns or shrubs, 16 percent having to do with parasites and other pests of people, pets and dwellings, and 4 percent involving pests in food crops.

The first scientist to hold the position, Dr. Wilton Britton, had to cope with an outbreak of malaria within his first few years on the job and came up with a plan to drain swamps and kill the larvae of the mosquitoes that carried it.

Dr. Magnarelli, who was also appointed vice director of the experiment station in 1992, was a high school biology teacher outside Syracuse, N.Y., in the early 1970's when an outbreak of Eastern equine encephalitis killed a 4-year-old boy, and he grew interested enough in the mosquito problem to go back to graduate school, first at the University of Michigan and then at Cornell.

He has dealt with a broadening range of issues. Shortly after he arriving on the job, Rocky Mountain spotted fever became a concern, and he went to work studying the ticks that carried it -- ticks are technically an insect, because they are more related to spiders and mites, ''but close enough,'' Dr. Magnarelli said. Interest in ticks quickly grew because it was discovered that they carry a range of bacterial diseases that are debilitating, including Lyme disease, baesiosis, and ehrlichiosis. The experiment station's research has been crucial to understanding and controlling ticks and the illnesses.

''It's been remarkable in a lot of ways,'' Dr. Magnarelli said. ''I don't think we have any more problems with insects than we had in the past, but we are doing a much better job of documenting them.''

This summer, his office received numerous calls about Army worms, a caterpillar that eats grass, corn, wheat and other crops, in populations that become so thick they can denude a lawn in days, creating a squishy carpet of caterpillar bodies.

Dr. Roger Friend, a Yale graduate, held the post from 1932-52. Dr. Neely Turner, the State Entomologist from 1952-69, became famous for his objections to the use of D.D.T. to control mosquitos and earned a mention in Rachel Carson's book, ''Silent Spring.'' Dr. John Anderson, who got the job in 1969 and turned it over to Dr. Magnarelli when Dr. Anderson became the experiment station director, is also an expert in mosquitoes, as is another experiment station entomologist, Ted Andreadis.

''So when the West Nile disease scare hit in Connecticut, we were able and ready to move in that direction pretty quickly,'' Dr. Magnarelli said, advising state and local officials on the need and best methods for mosquito control.

Dr. Magnarelli even monitors insects that are not in Connecticut -- yet. He is tracking the progress of the Asian longhorn beetle, which will kill maples, poplars and chestnut trees, and has been documented in Long Island and New York City.

''We didn't find any during our aerial survey work in July, but it's pretty high on our list in terms of surveillance, because it's so close, definitely within 25 miles of Greenwich,'' Dr. Magnarelli said. ''That doesn't necessarily mean it will come in through Greenwich, but we are concentrating our focus there.''

Photo: Louis A. Magnarelli, the State Entomologist since 1987. (Richard Mei for The New York Times)